Your first 10 minutes in Animatrix
Animatrix is one platform for generating, rigging, animating, and exporting characters — plus an Academy and an AI mentor to teach you as you go. Here's the shortest path from blank page to a moving character.
- 1Hit the big Launch Studio button on the home page, or press S to jump straight to the Studio.
- 2Use Browse Free Models (B) to pick a starter model, or drop your own glTF / FBX into My Assets.
- 3Click Send to Rig in the bottom action bar to move the model into the Rigging Studio.
- 4Click Auto-Rig. We detect the body shape and place a skeleton in about ten seconds. Click Validate to make sure it's clean.
- 5Click Send to Animate, drag a motion from the Motion Library onto the timeline, and press Space to play.
- 6Hit Export Animation and choose a format. GLB for web, FBX for Unity / Unreal, MP4 for video.
Global navigation
Every studio shares the same four-edge layout — top bar, left toolbar, right panel, bottom action bar — plus a floating AI mentor button and a global keyboard layer.
- Top barProject name, viewport mode (3D/2D/Split), theme toggle, accountClick the project name to rename. Use the mode toggle to swap between 3D and 2D canvases.
- Left toolbarPrimary studio switcher — Image, Model, Segment, Retopo, Texture, Animate, Academy, MentorHover any icon for a tooltip. Click to jump. The active studio shows a primary-coloured rail on the left edge.
- Right panelPer-studio inspector: settings, layer info, propertiesContents change based on the studio you're in. Always shows the most relevant controls for the current selection.
- Bottom barUniversal playback + quick exportPlay / scrub a global preview, or hit Export for a one-click export of the current scene.
- Floating AniBuddyAI mentor — always available except inside the mentor page itselfClick to open a chat overlay. AniBuddy knows which studio you're in and tailors answers to that context.
- Keyboard layerGlobal single-letter shortcuts and a ? overlayPress ? anywhere to see every shortcut. Letters jump between studios; Ctrl+K toggles theme.
Rigging Studio — add a skeleton
A rig is the invisible skeleton that lets your model move. Auto-Rig does the hard part in about ten seconds; the bone tree lets you fine-tune if needed.
- Left — Skeleton PanelPresets (Humanoid / Quadruped / Bird / Fish / Custom) and the live bone hierarchyPick a preset that matches your character. The bone tree is a parent-child view — moving a parent moves all its children.
- Centre — Viewport3D model with bone handles overlaidYellow spheres are joint handles. Click and drag to fine-tune position. The Validate panel flags problems live.
- Right — Bone PropertiesPer-bone settings: IK/FK toggle, weight paint, constraintsIK is best for legs (plant the foot, the chain follows). FK is best for arms (rotate each joint individually).
- Bottom — Action BarAuto-Rig, Validate, Send to AnimateAlways Validate before exporting or sending forward — green checks mean the rig is animation-ready.
3D Animation Studio — make it move
Drag motions onto the timeline, blend them together, or generate one with text. Scrub the playhead and Animatrix interpolates everything live.
- Right — Library / AIMotion Library (presets) + AI Motion (text-to-animation)Drag any motion card onto a timeline row to apply it. The AI tab lets you describe a motion in words.
- Centre — ViewportRigged character previewing the current frameMiddle-click drag to orbit. The character pose updates in real time as you scrub.
- Bottom — TimelineDope Sheet (keyframes) and Graph Editor (interpolation curves)Tab switches between modes. The red playhead is where time is now — drag to scrub. Add Keyframe inserts on the selected channel.
- Bottom bar — Action BarBack to Rig, Blend Motions, Retarget, Export AnimationBlend Motions crossfades two clips with per-bone masks. Retarget maps an animation onto a different skeleton.
- 1Drag a motion (e.g. Walk) from the Motion Library onto the timeline.
- 2Press Space to play. Adjust the playback range with the Start / End inputs.
- 3Switch to the Graph Editor to fine-tune ease curves for individual channels.
- 4Click Export Animation when ready and pick FBX for game engines or MP4 for video.
2D Animation Studio — frame by frame
A traditional frame-by-frame 2D animator with onion skinning, layers, vector tools, and timeline keyframes. Ideal for walk cycles, character tests, and stylised shorts.
- Left — Drawing ToolbarPen, Brush, Eraser, Line, Rect, Ellipse, Fill, Text, ImportSingle-letter shortcuts (V/P/B/E/L/R/O/F/T) match the icon. Sliders below set size and opacity.
- Centre — CanvasVector canvas with onion-skin overlays of adjacent framesEnable Onion Skin to see the previous frame in red and the next in blue — a classic animator's trick for smooth in-betweens.
- Right — Layers / Colors / StrokeTabbed inspectorLayers reorder via drag, double-click to rename. Stroke controls per-shape line weight and pressure response.
- Bottom — Frame TimelinePer-layer keyframe grid + transport controlsClick a cell to jump to that frame. Right-click for insert / duplicate / clear. Add Frame extends the timeline.
Academy — learn as you build
Bite-sized courses on rigging, animation principles, materials, character acting, and more. Every lesson earns XP, unlocks badges, and links straight to a hands-on exercise in the relevant studio.
- Top — HeroYour level, XP progress, last lessonClick <strong>Continue</strong> on the hero to jump back into where you left off.
- Filter barLevel (Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced) and topic chipsFilters stack — click to toggle. Reset clears them all.
- Course gridCards with progress, lesson count, difficultyClick a card to open the course. The first lesson autoplays if you've never opened it.
- Inside a lessonVideo on the left, notes + quiz + exercise on the rightMark complete to advance. Exercises hand you straight into the matching studio with the right starter scene loaded.
AI Mentor — AniBuddy
Your animation teacher, debugger, and concept buddy. Switch between Kid / Student / Pro modes to change how technical the explanations are. Replies stream live.
- Left — SidebarLesson context, related lessons, glossary, chat historyWhen you open the mentor from a lesson, the sidebar shows that lesson plus related ones. Glossary terms pre-fill the input on click.
- Centre — ChatAvatar, mode selector, message stream, suggested promptsPick a starter prompt or type your own. The Mode selector changes tone — Kid is friendlier, Pro uses jargon.
- Bottom — InputMulti-line message boxEnter sends, Shift+Enter inserts a newline. Ctrl+L starts a fresh chat (the current one is saved to history).
- Floating buttonAniBuddy quick-access from any other studioClick the bottom-right sparkle on any page to pop the chat without losing your work.
Export & DCC Bridge
Push your work anywhere. Pick a format, pick a quality preset, hit Download. Or use the DCC Bridge to send straight into an open Blender / Maya / Unity / Unreal session.
- Left — Format PanelFormat tabs (3D, Video, Image, Vector) + Quality presets (Web / Game / Film)Web optimises for size, Game balances size and quality, Film cranks everything to max.
- Right — PreviewWhat you'll get + metadata + filesize estimateUpdates live as you change format / quality. Filesize is approximate but usually within 10%.
- Bottom — DCC BridgeDirect integration with Blender, Maya, Unity, UnrealInstall the plugin for your DCC once. The bridge then sends the exported file straight into your open project — no file dialog needed.
- Quick export buttonStudio action bars have an Export shortcutSkips the format page when you already know exactly what you want. Pick a preset from the chevron menu.
Every keyboard shortcut
Press ? anywhere in the app to pop this list as an overlay. Letter shortcuts only fire when you're not in a text input.
Global
- Open the keyboard shortcuts overlay?
- Go to StudioS
- Go to Rig StudioR
- Go to Animation StudioA
- Go to 2D StudioD
- Browse free 3D modelsB
- Go to Academy (Learn)L
- Open the AI Mentor (AniBuddy)M
- Go to Export & ShareE
- Open Help / Navigation GuideH
- Toggle the dark / light themeCtrlK
- Close any modal, dialog, or tourEsc
Rigging
- Auto-rig the active meshB
- Switch the selected chain to IKI
- Switch the selected chain to FKF
- Run rig validation checksV
3D Animation
- Play or pause timeline playbackSpace
- Step back / forward one frame←→
- Jump to the timeline startShift←
- Jump to the timeline endShift→
- Insert a keyframe on the selected channelK
- Delete the selected keyframeDel
- Toggle between Dope Sheet and Graph EditorTab
2D Animation
- Select toolV
- Pen toolP
- Brush toolB
- Eraser toolE
- Line toolL
- Rectangle toolR
- Ellipse toolO
- Fill toolF
- Text toolT
- Decrease brush size[
- Increase brush size]
- Play or pause frame timelineSpace
- Undo the last canvas actionCtrlZ
- Redo the last undone actionCtrlShiftZ
Academy
- Move between lessons in the side railJK
- Play / pause the lesson videoSpace
AI Mentor
- Send the message in the chat inputEnter
- Insert a newline in the chat inputShiftEnter
- Start a new chat (saves the previous one to history)CtrlL
Export
- Start the export with the current settingsEnter
Tips when something feels off
Short answers to the things most people get stuck on. If yours isn't here, ask AniBuddy.
Not sure where to start?
Open the AI Mentor (press M) and ask: 'Walk me through making my first animated character.' AniBuddy knows every studio and can route you step by step.
Auto-Rig placed bones in the wrong spot.
Use the bone handles in the viewport (yellow spheres) to drag joints by hand. Always click Validate after manual edits.
Timeline playback feels jittery.
Lower the FPS toggle to 24 or 12 while editing — preview playback is GPU-bound. Export quality is unaffected.
I closed a chat by accident.
Every chat auto-saves to the Recent chats list in the mentor sidebar. Click any entry to restore it.
Where do my files end up?
Downloads use your browser's default folder. Cloud saves and DCC Bridge transfers also appear on your account dashboard at /studio.
Still stuck?
AniBuddy is online any time. Press M or click the floating sparkle button.